R.G Posted July 9, 2006 Share Posted July 9, 2006 As ever i'm an avid reader of this thread and your insights, its interesting how you've come round to some of these albums and manage to talk about them in context of the time, but also to remove the albums from your views of them at the time of release. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Writer Posted July 28, 2006 Author Share Posted July 28, 2006 Quick post, because I'm about to go off on holiday. I thought I'd get the intro to 'Hold Your Fire' done, because it's likely to be as long as some of the review posts. This one's a little... complex. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Writer Posted July 28, 2006 Author Share Posted July 28, 2006 Hold Your Fire History Where to begin? As I have said several times now, I stopped buying Rush music after 'Power Windows'. But only for a while; I guess I was still hooked at some level, in spite of my musical tastes going all over the place. Some time after we moved to Perth, which was in 1988, we bought our first ever CD player. For a long time the only CD we owned was Peter Gabriel's 'So', and because we still had a record deck, there didn't seem to be any hurry to replace any of my existing vinyl. In any case, I'd 'gone off' Rush. Then one day I was in Perth's only record store (whose name, shamefully, escapes me), and I saw a CD of 'A Show of Hands'. After some deliberation ("it's got songs on it I don't know - there must have been a studio album in the meantime"), I bought it, and played it a few times, but soon relegated it to the rapidly growing pile of CDs I never had time to listen to. In 1989, I lost my job, and my wife became chronically ill. We struggled through, and I eventually found a new job which entailed driving over large parts of Scotland, but different ones to the ones I had been driving over in my old job. I needed comfort music for the car, which only had a cassette player, and eventually, after hearing 'Time Stand Still' on the radio (much to my shock), I decided on 'Hold Your Fire' and 'Presto' . These two became my constant travelling companions in those months - I'd drive up Strathtay and over Crianlarich to Oban, and then up to Fort William and back through Glencoe to Perth, all the while listening to these two albums. So while I said earlier that I don't think of Rush music as 'road music'; I do always think of the fantastic scenery of Western Scotland when I hear these songs. And then, in the last few months, since I began this project, I had the CD of 'Hold Your Fire' with me whenever I went to Italy, and it became my road music all over again. If I put it on when I hit the A8 after the tortuous drive from Malpensa down to the TO-MI road, it would last me pretty much to the turn off for Alba at Asti est (depending how fast I was going, and I discovered that on Italian roads, especially the fantastic Gravellona - Alessandria one, I could pretty much go as fast as I liked, only being overtaken by Mercs or BMWs - and a gritter once, but that's a whole other story). So now when I sing along to 'The Mission', I have two clear images in my mind - plunging down into Glencoe, and tearing past Autogrills in the dead of night. It's kind of cool... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cygnalschick Posted July 28, 2006 Share Posted July 28, 2006 The Writer- I'm enjoying your posts very much! Keep them coming! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drumnut Posted July 28, 2006 Share Posted July 28, 2006 I found a copy of Feedback that I burned for the car. Had not listened to it in about 6 months and really enjoyed it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Writer Posted September 25, 2006 Author Share Posted September 25, 2006 Yeah, it's been a while. I get there in the end, though... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deadwing2112 Posted September 25, 2006 Share Posted September 25, 2006 I'm liking this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Writer Posted September 25, 2006 Author Share Posted September 25, 2006 Force Ten Oh, yes. I remember this. What a terrific opening - any worries about a repeat of 'The Big Money' fly out the window with that giggle. We seem to be back in the realm of the guitar with this, too. The thing which jumps out at me most on relistening to this, however, is the bass. It's powerful and fluid, and I think it sounds a little different. New instrument? I don't know, but it really stands out. When the keyboards arrive, they add another layer to the texture of this song; not a replacement for other parts, a whole voice in their own right. I love the insistent rhythm of this, and while it is almost pointless to highlight the drumming by now - excellence is taken for granted - this is a great drum track, too. It's an intriguing lyric too; I remember this album is full of stuff like this; musings on the nature of life and the passage of time - in fact, these first two tracks are a pair, really, aren't they? Great ending too - I still drum along to it. Time Stand Still I heard this on the radio one day. I was working in a newsagent shop on Dunkeld Road in Perth - near to the old Muirton Park, now a supermarket - and this came on the radio being played in the shop. I knew instantly who it was, of course, but the female voice kind of took me by surprise. I guess that Aimee Mann was kind of cool at the time, and this was on Radio 1 only because she was on it. Nevertheless, it was such an unusual event that I clearly remember it to this day. So, of course, I remember this very well, and it's one of those lyrics which has stayed with me for all these years, even if I went perhaps 10 years without hearing it. When I was going through the process of leaving my job and my homeland last year, I kept coming back to this: it kind of summed up where I was - if I could just freeze time for long enough to see everyone, and do everything before I left... But at the same time, I wanted to move on. Just one of those songs destined to be in the soundtrack to my life, I guess. Musically, this is still very strong; bouncy and catchy, the same liquid bass pulling it along, and it just sounds like a really tight band in full control of their material. Really nice stuff - I remember why I liked this album so much, now. Open Secrets Whereas this feel like a new song to me now - I do remember the sound of it, but it didn't stick in my memory the way the last two did. But this is why I'm doing this, in a way - to try to rediscover things I'd forgotten, and this is a great example of it. I think the reason I remember the sound of it is that it's a great sound. I'm getting to the point where I'm going to be hearing things for the first time soon, and I can't help feeling that this album marks the apogee of the Rush 'sound' - everything in balance, no complaints about inaudible guitar, or too much of anything - just right. And as I listen to it again (and again!), I realise that this is a great lyric - as soon as I hear the 'burned on our ceiling' again, it all comes back to me. And then there's a little, spaced-out break with vocal interpolations, and suddenly I'm hearing this properly for the first time. How easy it is to get swept up into the soundscape again. I guess that, because I've almost exclusively listened to this album in cars, competing against road noise and so on, I've never really heard it properly. Until now, and it's been full of surprises so far. More! Second Nature I hear this again, and I 'm instantly singing along. Forget what I was saying earlier about the 'Rush sound'; this comes out of left field - the first 30 seconds or so sound like some other band altogether, and it's quite stunning. So, how many people were nailing these particular colours to their mast this long ago? I know that in Europe there was a sudden upsurge in all things green about this time, but a song like this was pretty damn unusual back then. I dare say it'd be reasonably unusual now - there are plenty of people who still don't want to hear this stuff (and I'd point them to Kim Stanley Robinson's most recent work to understand where we might just be heading). Back to the song - love the intro, with its unapologetic piano work, and Geddy's new register; I like the way the sound gradually fills; an irresistible tide which surges into the second chorus and then bursts its banks into the instrumental break - just where we expect a soaring guitar solo, we get a flood of synthesizer. Geddy's vocal pulls us back in, and it's hard not to hear the last line as an epitaph. Or is it something more hopeful? Prime Mover You know, some of these song titles have surprised me. I read them and thought: nope, I don't know this one. then I listen to them and realise that they are among my favourites. As soon as I heard this, I remembered that this was the one with the bass line, but I couldn't have told you it was called 'Prime Mover'. Another symptom of having listened in the car, I guess. Once I get past my surprise, I find I'm singing along happily enough, but that it just doesn't stick in my head. It's odd; there's nothing I can put my finger on, but it just doesn't jump out at me. And then there's a staccato, drum-driven breakdown, which I really like, and some lyrics which are deliberately obscure ("the point of the journey is not to arrive"; I guess so, but it sound's like a touring musician's view of life - I love to travel as much as the next guy, but I also love to arrive). In the end, however, this feels like the first weak track on an album I've been otherwise thoroughly enjoying. It's not bad, it's just not quite as strong as the others. Let's flip it over, and see what else I've forgotten... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Test4VitalSigns Posted September 25, 2006 Share Posted September 25, 2006 Welcome back Writer! Truly enjoy your thread Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Writer Posted September 25, 2006 Author Share Posted September 25, 2006 Lock and Key You know what? I'd love to hear the opening chords to this on a really big organ, like the one in the Royal Albert Hall. Not sure what insight that gives to anything, but it's just occurred to me. And there aren't too many rock songs I'd say that about. Meanwhile, back in the real world, this is back in the world of 'Territories'; a dark lyric about the primal instincts which we are all prey to to a greater or lesser extent from time to time. It has a particularly fine 'climbing' riff, which drifts from instrument to instrument as needed, and when that big organ sound kicks back in, I realise it's the same motif, albeit highly simplified. I think I'm guilty over the last few albums of focusing on the songs rather than the music. Perhaps I just take it for granted that these songs are full of interesting and complex musical ideas. In fact, I'm pretty sure that the musical ideas have been developing, even though the songs are much shorter now, leading to a kind of density of sound which rewards proper listening. In other news, this is a fine song, and a thought-provoking lyric. But that's kind of what I've come to expect. I noticed the fade, though - I think it could have been ended neatly, but what do I know? Mission Oh, this is too good. The portentous opening picking out the chorus, the sudden explosion into the verse; the early breakdown. Just over a minute in, and there's enough material here for a dozen of these posts. It's fair to say that, ever since I first heard it, I loved this song beyond reason, and I still do. It's one of my favourite of all Rush songs, and I'm not sure I can put my finger exactly on why. Maybe it's the sentiment in the lyric; maybe it's the way that the different parts intertwine; maybe it's the delightful percussion break; maybe it's the bassline; maybe... No, it's definitely and absolutely the middle eight following that percussion break; Geddy goes all baritone on us for a moment, and the song pauses and says "listen to this; it's the really important bit". then the vocal line pulls us up to the peak of that 'soaring ambition'; then Alex pours some glorious guitar work over it, and it just disappears on up; into the clouds and beyond. Fade? It doesn't fade, it goes ethereal... Turn the Page Another killer opening - this album is absolutely full of them. And the pace is relentless, too - still full steam ahead eight songs in. Not so long ago, this would have been the last song in the set, but we're in the CD age now. In a way, though, this feels a bit like an album closer - I don't know if there's any truth in that, but there's a sense to me of trying to go out on a high. There's another quiet passage in here, where the rhythm stops, and it's just voice and quiet synthesizer, and it bursts out into the open again; something of a musical motif for this album. I like this well enough, but it doesn't grab me like some of the others on here, and perhaps it's just in the shadow of the previous song a little. Nice, proper, ending, though. I do like that! Tai Shan Talk about a change in moods! I'm not blind to the other things which are discussed here - I do read threads, and am kind of aware of what people generally think of things, but I try not to let it influence me. I can well understand those who don't like this, or consider it weak, but I tend to disagree. Let's see if I can work out why. Firstly, how else are you going to make a song about climbing to the top of a Chinese mountain sound? It's not exactly a rock and roll song, is it? Once you've decided that there needs to be an Eastern feel to it, then you have to blend it with your own sound, and take account of what instrumentation is available to you. and if you're really, really good, you can make it sound as good as this. Perhaps it would help to hear this out of context. It's at the end of one of the more upbeat and powerful Rush albums, and it's gentle and reflective, so it jars a little. I think that you could do worse than to take a leaf from Mahler's book here (yeah, I know, bear with me) - at the end of the first movement of his second symphony, aware of the radical change in mood he's about to subject us to, he calls for a 5 minute pause. Of course, the damn thing's long enough without it, so it hardly ever actually happens, but it's what's needed. And maybe a longer pause than normal would help here. In the end, I like it; some people don't. Even in the context of this album it has as strong a melody as any other song here, and it makes me want to go and climb mountains in China, and there are not too many songs you can say that about... Open Water And we're back in the rhythm. A great Neil opening pattern, and it's time to take this album home; and it seems we're going by boat this time. I really like this lyric - it calls back to 'Natural Science', albeit obliquely, and it suddenly reminds me that Neil is a John Barth fan. If you've read Barth's Tidewater Tales, you'll have some idea of where this is coming from. I accept, of course, that there are plenty of people who don't see water this way - who turn green at the very idea of water, but there is something in the idea that water is our basic element, and we feel at home in it. Musically, it's perhaps simpler than the other tracks on here, but it's melodically strong, and bounces us out on a wave of elation, even with a surprise ending. In the end, you could swap the last two tracks on here, and there might seem to be a bit more cohesion to it, but I think you'd lose the sudden shock of the change, and then the flow of the ending. Summary: I really missed this album all those years when I didn;t have a copy. It was the first one I bought after my real 'fanboy' years, and I think I appreciated it more because of that. Listening to it now, it has aged really well - theres a cohesion and power to it which I hadn't really remembered, and it has one definite classic, as well as two or three others which are right up there. It's a great album, and I'm glad to have come back to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUSHHEAD666 Posted September 25, 2006 Share Posted September 25, 2006 An excellent thread indeed! Nice to see Rush fans reconnect with the music as the years "Fly By Night" into the darkness of eternity. Hey Writer! So far so good!! RUSH ON! Earl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Writer Posted November 10, 2006 Author Share Posted November 10, 2006 So... um. A month and a half. Well, I'm still here; it's just that I'm kind of busy, writing a novel (it's NaNoWriMo, kids, although it's a touch late to start now!) and I'm about a week behind with the next article for the paper, and I keep being called in to do work during the times I had set aside for writing, and... It's all just a bunch of excuses, but this thread still lives, and I will get to it any day now - once I've knocked off the other 35,000 words or so (Also I'm a bit stuck with A Show of Hands, for some reason. But that'll pass.) Onward... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deadwing2112 Posted November 10, 2006 Share Posted November 10, 2006 No problem. Still great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-D-RocK- Posted November 10, 2006 Share Posted November 10, 2006 I like The Writer, He/She seems very enigmatic. How's everyone else doing? I havn't been on the forum for about two weeks. I have just finished moving....ugh! I pity those who move lots. Takes much energy. Question: I'm trying to upload a cool picture of myself, Geddy and Alex. For some reason it's not letting me. Can anyone offer any helpful hints? Peace all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liquidcrystalcompass Posted November 10, 2006 Share Posted November 10, 2006 I forgot about this thread. This is very entertaining. Excellente' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Writer Posted November 11, 2006 Author Share Posted November 11, 2006 (edited) QUOTE (-D-RocK- @ Nov 10 2006, 12:42 PM)I like The Writer, He/She seems very enigmatic. I'm a he. if it matters to anyone... I'm also approaching halfway on the NaNoWriMo effort, so there may be hope... Also, the 'eccelente' is really, really spooky. I don't know you, do I? (I might even be driven to explain that comment someday!) Edited November 11, 2006 by The Writer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maddy Posted November 12, 2006 Share Posted November 12, 2006 Did anyone else see Neil's line in Roadshow about the dancing girls in "Force Ten" being a reference to us female fans? I got a kick out of it, anyway... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PuppetKing2112 Posted November 12, 2006 Share Posted November 12, 2006 God, I haven't listened to HYF in months. Right, then, I know what I'll be listening to tonight... Writer, you weren't missing anything not buying this on vinyl. It sounds like shit, unlike the CD. Maybe it's just my turntable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fritz44 Posted November 14, 2006 Share Posted November 14, 2006 I'm really enjoy this thread, despite the comments about Hemispheres, which was where I 'came in' to Rush. I struggled with Rush around the time of the Signals and GUP offerings. Only recently have I found that I can listen to both, and enjoy the material. Like TW, I saw Rush in the Ingleston cowshed on the Signals tour, but I was losing interest, and didn't enjoy the show as much as earlier tours (Hemispheres and PW). However, I did see the band on the R30 tour, and what a ****ing show! Keep going TW, I want to hear your comments on RTB - my favourite later album. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finbar Posted November 14, 2006 Share Posted November 14, 2006 QUOTE (The Writer @ Aug 15 2005, 03:40 PM) Last Christmas, my family gave me an mp3 player. It's a nice one - a Creative Zen Touch - and it has room for lots of Mahler symphonies. Mahler's 3rd! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finbar Posted November 15, 2006 Share Posted November 15, 2006 QUOTE (The Writer @ Jan 11 2006, 04:04 PM) Spirit of Radio And straight off, it's wrong. No introduction, no fanfare, just a kind of mumbled, half-heard intro, and off we go. The song is well enough played, but it doesn't bounce, doesn't fly. The sound's kind of flat and shiny - kind of Eighties squeaky-clean, which is no way to sound when you're a live album. Then it fades. Words fail me. Live albums do not fade - even if it's not one seamless show, you can at least make it sound like one. Sheesh. Red Barchetta More of the same, I'm afraid; perfunctory intro, flat sound, enlivened only by the seemingly random cheer. I can't tell you how excited I was to see the video projection live... Nothing more to add to the studio version, really - it's a fine song, played well. Shrug. YYZ Ah, that's better. The song shines through the production values, and the drum solo... Well, the previous one was awe-inspiring; this one is mind-expanding. So beautifully crafted in how it fits into the music, and so musical in itself. Shame there was no room to give Neil his deserved ovation. Of course, on vinyl, this is the end of Side 1, so it has to fade, but still... Closer To The Heart The sleeve notes have warned us, but the singing still takes me aback. The old Glasgow Apollo was an astounding place to see a band, and you can feel that energy right here. It was an odd place, where the stage was a good 10 feet high, so you were peering up at your heroes above you, but somehow it made for a rare cameraderie in the audience, and you can really hear it here. This is much better now, really rocking along. Beneath, Between & Behind Is this from the same Glasgow show? No way of knowing, I suppose, but the ambience is much better - maybe it's because it is an older song, I don't know - it just feels more real somehow. A little out of place now, among all the shining technicalities of the newer stuff, but good nonetheless. Jacob's Ladder Aha! I'd completely forgotten about the old walkin' blues intro to this. Really made me smile, it did. I'm glad this has picked up now; we're really in a groove with it - the beginning has disappointed me, but I'm much happier now - there's a relaxed and easy feel to this, which is far from an easy song to play. I'm really looking forward to disc 2 now... You have the early CD version. Update it or go back to vinyl for the whole album. You're missing A Passage to Bangkok. The reason for the fades in and out is the same reason the CD has The Spirit of Radio at the beginning of the show and Tom Sawyer near the end. Unlike All the World's a Stage, this was taken from several different shows, recorded from both the Permanent Waves and Moving Pictures tours. They weren't going to pretend it's all one show when it's not. I think this is an underrated album in the Rush catalogue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PuppetKing2112 Posted November 15, 2006 Share Posted November 15, 2006 I completely disagree about Exit, Finbar...I think it is absolutely my least-played Rush CD...it sounds flat on vinyl and too clear for a live album on the remastered CD. And the recordings sound more like the studio versions than the studio versions do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treeduck Posted November 15, 2006 Share Posted November 15, 2006 QUOTE (PuppetKing2112 @ Nov 15 2006, 01:49 AM) I completely disagree about Exit, Finbar...I think it is absolutely my least-played Rush CD...it sounds flat on vinyl and too clear for a live album on the remastered CD. And the recordings sound more like the studio versions than the studio versions do. Way too bass-heavy too, the guitars are drowned... I think people look at the awesome song line-up on this record and get carried away. i understand, I want to love the album too, but it has no live atmosphere whatsoever. It's like a collection of live B sides put together as an album. I swear there's a bum guitar note in Jacob's Ladder as well... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finbar Posted November 15, 2006 Share Posted November 15, 2006 QUOTE (Dr.Gomez @ Aug 23 2005, 01:05 PM) Notice to the message board administrators It would be a good Idea to save the writers posts as a locked sticky, and keep adding to it as he/she posts on this thread. Once it is complete it will be a great addition to this site. I second that. Oh, allow me to introduce myself. I'm not accustomed to doing that in message board threads, but everyone else seems to be doing that, so yeah. Hello The Writer! My name is Finbar, and I'm thoroughly enjoying reading your thread. I am also a Mahler fan. My father played me his third symphony ten years ago when I was at the tender age of ten, and it's been one of my all-time favourite pieces ever since. I have a number of different recordings of it, but I only consistently play one of them (the rest I've only played once each) and that's the one under the Naxos label with Antoni Wit conducting. I'm finding your writing really addictive. I've stayed up all night reading what you have so far, after all. Keep it up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Writer Posted November 17, 2006 Author Share Posted November 17, 2006 QUOTE (Finbar @ Nov 15 2006, 12:37 AM)I have a number of different recordings of it, but I only consistently play one of them (the rest I've only played once each) and that's the one under the Naxos label with Antoni Wit conducting. Oddly, that would be the same recording I was listening to last week - I bought it in a little shop in the Roman wall in Chester several years ago for a pound (if memory serves; it may have been slightly more), and I like it - it doesn't try to do anything outlandish with it, and the singing is mighty fine. And I understand why people love 3, but 2 and 9 are more personal to me, so I love them more. But I'm supposed to be listening to 'A Show of Hands'... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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